Creamy Pasta Pomodoro Recipes

PASTA POMODORO

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Pour olive oil in a large deep skillet over high-heat. Saute onions and garlic until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-high and add tomatoes, vinegar and chicken broth; simmer for about 8 minutes.
• Stir in red pepper, black pepper, basil and cooked pasta, tossing thoroughly with sauce. Simmer for about 5 more minutes and serve topped with grated cheese.

CREAMY PASTA POMODORO

Steps:

• Make the marinara sauce: Heat the olive oil in a small pot over low heat. Add the shallot, garlic, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the tomatoes and their juices, balsamic vinegar, cane sugar, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Make the creamy sauce: Add the marinara to a blender with the cashews, tomato paste, salt, and ¼ cup of water. Blend until smooth. Set aside until ready to use. Before serving, stir in ¼ cup hot pasta cooking water to loosen it up so that it'll nicely coat the pasta.
• Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions or until al dente.
• While the pasta cooks, heat generous drizzles of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini, thyme, and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Sautee, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes or until heated through. Add the spinach and gently toss until wilted. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.
• Scoop the pasta into individual bowls, add scoops of the creamy sauce, and toss to coat. Distribute the vegetables among the bowls and top with parsley and or basil. Season to taste and serve.

BASIC PARMESAN POMODORO

Steps:

• Heat a medium nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 cup of the oil and the garlic, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook the garlic, stirring often and mashing gently with a wooden spoon, until golden brown and beginning to soften, 5 minutes. Add the basil, tomatoes and their juices, the carrots and cheese rinds. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Bring to a simmer and adjust the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook for 35 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• Remove the rinds, carrots and basil. At this point you can use an immersion blender to puree slightly or leave it as a chunky sauce.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the penne 2 minutes less than the package directions. Meanwhile, rewarm the sauce in a large, straight-sided skillet set over medium heat. Using a spider, strain the pasta from the water and add it directly into the pan with sauce, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Before stirring, sprinkle the pasta with the grated cheese. Toss the pasta, cheese and sauce together. Add the butter, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the reserved pasta water and continue to cook until the sauce is creamy and the pasta is al dente. Serve topped with more cheese if desired.

CREAMY CHICKEN POMODORO

Steps:

• Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken; cook 3 min. on each side or until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to plate.
• Add remaining oil to skillet. Stir in garlic and red pepper; cook and stir 30 sec. Add tomatoes and cream cheese; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until cream cheese is melted and sauce is well blended. Return chicken to skillet along with any meat juices; cover. Simmer 8 to 10 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF). Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
• Sprinkle chicken with cheeses and basil. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 2 to 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted. Serve over drained pasta.

CREAMY SEAFOOD PASTA POMODORO

Steps:

• Cook spaghetti in large saucepan as directed on package, omitting salt. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add shrimp, scallops and 1/4 tsp. crushed pepper; cook 3 min. or until shrimp and scallops are lightly browned, stirring frequently. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.
• Add remaining oil and onions to skillet; cook and stir 5 min. or until onions are crisp-tender. Stir in garlic and remaining crushed pepper; cook 1 min. Add tomatoes, bouillon and water; stir. Bring to boil. Add mussels; cover. Cook 4 min. Return shrimp and scallops to skillet; cook, covered, 2 min. or until all the mussels have opened and shrimp and scallops are done and heated through. Discard any unopened mussels. Combine cream cheese spread and milk until smooth.
• Drain spaghetti. Return to pan. Add cream cheese mixture; toss to coat. Stir in seafood mixture and basil. Top with Parmesan.

CREAMY POMODORO PASTA

Steps:

• Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 2 min. Stir in broccoli; cook and stir 3 to 5 min. or until chicken is done. Add Cooking Creme; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until heated through.
• Drain pasta, reserving 1/3 cup cooking water. Gradually add reserved water to sauce mixture until desired consistency is reached. Add pasta; mix lightly. Top with Parmesan. Serve immediately.

CREAMY PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, place the cottage cheese in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and blend until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn on the machine, and add the milk with the machine running. Blend until the mixture is smooth and there is no sign of graininess. Blend in the olive oil and the Parmesan, taste, then add salt and pepper as desired. Scrape the cottage cheese mixture into a large pasta bowl.
• When the pasta water comes to a boil, add the pasta. Cook al dente, following the timing instructions on the package (about eight minutes for penne). Before draining the pasta, add two to three tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to the cottage cheese mixture and stir together.
• Drain the pasta, toss immediately with the cottage cheese mixture, and serve, passing additional Parmesan at the table.

PENNE PORTABELLA (COPYCAT OF PASTA POMODORO'S DISH)

Steps:

• Soak the dried porchini mushrooms in the hot water (about 10 minutes), then squeeze the liquid out of the mushrooms and chop it up. Be sure to reserve the tasty soaking water for the sauce!
• Prepare the sausage according to package directions (cooked throughly and browned), drain.
• Cook the pasta according to package directions as well, however, minus one to two minutes to finsh "cooking" in the sauce. Meanwhile start the sauce:.
• Heat up a large pan (large enough to fit the pasta in), add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, sautee garlic just until fragrant, add in cooked sausage, portobello mushrooms and porchini mushrooms, and (first add 1/4 cup) of the reserved porchini soaking water as well as the wine. Let this cook for a few minutes. If the portobello mushroom is still dry, add more of the reserved soaking water (add all if possible), cook until the portobello is browned and tender.
• Add cream and heat through, stirring to incorporate the flavors together. Next add the cooked pasta and arugula or spinach leaves, cook for a minute or two to let the pasta soak up the sauce and wilt the arugula or spinach.
• Taste and adjust seasoning, adding parmesan cheese then salt and pepper if desired.